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Finding Good Coder Is Not Nightmare

It is a lonely world for non-tech businesses particularly when it comes to finding a good coder. How can fast growing businesses sniff out right coders when a majority of them seem to be absorbed by tech businesses? Coding geek since 2005 and former coder at technology giant HCL, Avlesh Singh, Co-founder & CEO of Mumbai-based multichannel user engagement platform Web Engage shares the way out in a chat with Entrepreneur.

Non-tech businesses can also find a good coder

Businesses, instead of going out to hire a coder directly at the bottom, can hire a person who himself may not be a coder but buys into the larger vision of the business and at the same time have a strong network in the coding community. He must have the power to attract talent and understand how and from where to source a good coder. While he may be costlier to get but will build the team for you with long-term value creation and this is important.

Places to find the right coder

A Businesses need to look at right places to find the right coder. In Bengaluru, one can find great coders at events such as developer meets and conferences, tech fests and technical cultural festivals. As a founder, you need to amplify as much as you can on your network as companies work on networking. If you want to set up a team of coders and you already have a strong and capable technical guy, you can hire freshers as well, who can be trained to become a decent coder in around three months. For that businesses can go to college campuses or sponsor their events. However, this is a long-term process. In short term, other than developer meets, there is hardly any other platform to find a good talent.

Coder’s perspective: business preferences

Good coders are always driven by the impact they are creating while learning. If your business is impactful in the industry it operates, you will find good coders to align with your work. So it is about the nature of the problem to be solved.

Challenges among small businesses

A Often small businesses don’t make enough efforts to find a good coder. They get contented with what they get and later finds it tough to develop the right technology. So there is a mindset issue as well as these businesses are generally not meant for next phase of growth. On the other hand, for founder being an aspirational character also helps in getting a great coder.

(This article first appeared in the Indian edition of Entrepreneur magazine (March 2016 Issue).